Western Australia privacy commissioner not consulted on police facial recognition trial

The Office of the Information Commissioner of Western Australia (OIC WA) says it was not invited to participate in any formal consultation or input process around the state police force’s trial of overt live facial recognition technology.

The Western Australia Police Force launched its live FRT trial last month, with biometrics support from NEC operating on a marked, mobile police van.

In a release, OIC WA says it “welcomes the work WA Police has done to date towards addressing privacy risks and harms as part of the trial” – but notes “important concepts members of the community and regulated entities should be aware of in the roll out of biometric projects with large-scale public impact.”

These concepts and concerns include the mass collection of personal information, collective privacy, scope creep, data quality, automated decision-making and privacy impact assessments.

“People often adjust their behaviour and speech if they feel like they are being watched,” OIC WA says. “It is important to assess broader collective privacy harms and how they shape our communities.” For instance, “increases in the deployments, a shift to the use of covert technology or fixed widespread use (for example, using existing CCTV cameras) would significantly increase privacy risks.”

On automation, the organization cites the Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024, or PRIS Act – “the first law in Australia to regulate the use of personal information in the context of automated decision-making, which can include the use of biometric technology in making law enforcement decisions.”

Specifically, “Information Privacy Principle 10 (IPP 10) requires entities seeking to automate all or part of a decision-making process to assess the risks of bias, harm and discrimination and provide assurance they are being properly addressed.”

Transparency key to quelling public doubt

The OIC WA says it issued the missive in response to requests from media outlets reporting on the police live FRT trial. “We know the community has concerns about the use of biometric technology,” it says. Evidence is presented from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)’s recent Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey, which says “comfort with the use of biometric analysis remains generally low.”

“While the OIC WA recognises responsible use of biometric technology can have public safety benefits, it can also have significant privacy risks that need to be eliminated or mitigated,” the OIC WA says. “Transparency and accountability around these risks and how they are being managed is central to building public trust in emerging technologies.”

Article Topics

Australia  |  data privacy  |  facial recognition  |  law enforcement  |  live facial recognition  |  Office of the Information Commissioner (OAIC)